Two unions representing employees at the UPMC Altoona hospital are calling on leadership to improve safety and staffing after a patient care technician was brutally attacked and injured.
Another patient and a nurse who were in the Emergency Department Saturday, November 1 say they saw the moment Travis Dunn was attacked. Dunn, a patient care technician, was alone in a room with a known violent patient.
After the attack, Dunn was taken to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh for emergency surgery. He had a fractured skull, brain bleed and other injuries, according to a GoFundMe set up to pay for his medical costs and missed income from work.
UPMC Altoona's president said Dunn is recovering at home and will still get full pay and benefits, plus worker's compensation.
The attack happened three days after hospital employees protested in front of the hospital for better pay, lower staff-to-patient ratios and better overall working conditions.
Jaime Balsamo, a registered nurse at the hospital, said she's angry at higher leadership for not listening sooner to their advice to add metal detectors at entrances, panic alarms in every room, an increased hospital police presence and other safety measures.
“We have said to UPMC executives that something bad is going to happen if we don't implement these things, and it has happened," Balsamo said.
Balsamo didn't directly see the attack in the emergency department, but said news of it quickly spread throughout the hospital. She eventually heard from several people who were there when it happened.
“My coworkers, myself included, are shaken up. They are emotional," Balsamo said. “There is a fear and anxiety about coming into work, not knowing if today is going to be the day you're going to be a victim of assault, because it's happening more and more.”
In the joint statement from SEIU Healthcare PA and AFSCME Local 691, union members said their pleas for improved safety became more urgent after this year's shooting inside UPMC Memorial Hospital in York.
The statement says UPMC is the largest healthcare provider in Pennsylvania, and has the resources to invest into employee safety.
In a message sent to hospital employees, Mike Corso, the president of UPMC Altoona and UPMC Bedford, said they are committed to providing a safe environment for employees, patients and visitors.
"We have a comprehensive, continuous program to evaluate, identify and prevent conditions that may place people in harm’s way," Corso said in the message to staff. "This includes engaging top national security experts to assess and advise on enhancements, holding meetings with employees and physicians to hear their concerns and ideas, and implementing hundreds of improvements — including advanced education and de-escalation training, active drills, panic buttons, secure rooms, reduced access points, and enhanced facility entrance technologies."
UPMC Altoona leadership are also offering mental health professionals to talk with employees in the emergency department.
